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Going to the eye doctor is so expensive if you don’t have insurance! Any tips on how to save money when getting your glasses and contacts?

How important are your eyes??? I’m guessing you find them pretty important. You get what you pay for. I’d suggest finding a good doctor that cares about maintaining the health of your eyes and ask him/her for suggestions that could decrease cost without compromising your ocular health/vision.

While most of the couple today are thinking of preparing a fortune to spend for one of their most memorable day – wedding, some might find this hard to believe that planning a cheap wedding is quite easy to do. Just like planning for an extravagant wedding celebration, cheap wedding ideas are also great and fun, and can be really unique and creative, too! So if you are one of many couples who opt to have a cheap wedding without compromising what you have desired to be in your special day, consider saving money on your wedding location, reception and decorations.

One way to trim down your wedding expenditures is by planning of having a cheap wedding location. Planning to have this cheap idea is not impossible to do. In fact, you can have your wedding ceremony in a variety of locations that are completely free. A great example could be a local park. Usually, going to a local public parks doesn’t require any fees, and so planning a cheap wedding ceremony there doesn’t give you any cost. They don’t usually require any permits of other fees too. However, just make sure you have double checked it with your local city authorities before anything else.

Beaches are also a free place where you can held your wedding. Other ideas may include: having your wedding at a family member’s home, or having it in your own backyard. If you and your partner loves nature, it may be free or very inexpensive to have your ceremony at a local zoo, nature reserve, or even at flower conservatory also.

Another area where you can save some money is your wedding reception. If you are on a tight budget, you can always go with cheap wedding reception, and believe or not this is not too difficult either. One of the most popular cheap reception is idea is to make a pot luck meal. You can ask each of your guests to bring their own dish. But if you’d rather not ask guests to bring food for your wedding reception, then perhaps asking a few family members to get together and cook food as a wedding gift for you can lighten your burden.

Planning a cheap wedding receptions should also involve choosing cheap location for the reception too. Example, if you’d like to have your wedding ceremony in the gazebo at the park, then perhaps the best reception option could be a barbecue or picnic style in that same park. Another easy and cheap option is of course, having your wedding ceremony in your own home. Then you can have your reception in your home as well, or out in the backyard if the weather agreed.

Wedding decorations are not only fun to deal with, but they can also cut down your wedding expenses.

You don’t have to go without them completely though, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend a big amount of dollars, rather you just need to improvise. Example, instead of buying expensive flowers for instance, try decorating with balloons and streamers instead. You may purchase a few spools of pretty ribbon at the nearest craft store or fabric store. Grab few balloons and tie them together using the strips of the ribbon. Also tie the ribbons into bows themselves, then tape the ribbon bows around for decorations by themselves.

Other ways where you can save money on your wedding is to purchase cheap wedding favors, inexpensive bridesmaids gifts, and discount groomsmen gifts. Giving wedding gifts to your guests and attendants doesn’t give you any reason to overspend your budget. After all, it is not the cost that is being valued, rather the thought behind it.

Janet R.
http://www.articlesbase.com/marriage-articles/cheap-wedding-ideas-saving-money-on-location-reception-and-decorations-673444.html

The dream of owning a home is becoming very allusive these days. Although everyone would like to have a home that is paid for free and clear, many people are forced to assume mortgages that will be paid over 25 or 30 years into the future.

Everyone is constrained to a certain degree by their budget. Yet there is a way to pay off the existing mortgage on your home quicker and save money in the process.

Almost all mortgages have built into them an Accelerated Payment Clause. This allows the borrower to pay more than the minimum amount of the monthly mortgage payment.

To do this you simply remit more to the lender than the usual mortgage payment every month. The benefit to this is that every extra dollar paid against the mortgage will lower the outstanding balance of the mortgage. This increases the equity in your home faster over time. Also, by lowering your outstanding balance, you will save on interest charges.

Here is a good example based on the scenario of an average family.

If you are an average family of four making $50,000 a year, let us assume that you are saving annually at the same rate as most Americans. This rate of savings as reported by our government is about 4% of your income every year. This would mean that you are putting $2000.00 in the bank every year for future purposes. This comes out to around $167.00 a month.

Right now you are probably receiving less than 1% Annual Percentage Rate (APR) on your passbook savings.

Why not take $100.00 of this money that you would normally save and pay down the mortgage on your home ahead of time? The following example shows why this is in your best interest.

If you take out a mortgage on a house for $200,000 at a 6% fixed rate, and the contract calls for repayment in monthly installments over 30 years, your monthly mortgage payment would be $1,210.56.

The best time to learn about mortgage is before you’re in the thick of things. Wise readers will keep reading to earn some valuable mortgage experience while it’s still free.

If you paid an extra $100.00 dollars per month toward the amortization of your mortgage, you would add $1,200.00 to the equity in your home every year.

In this scenario, the total amount paid to buy your home over the life of the mortgage would be $435,798.89. When you add $100.00 to your mortgage payment every month you would save $46,360.13 in interest charges over the life of the mortgage. You would also be able to retire your mortgage earlier.

You would be able to trim 38 monthly payments off your repayment of the mortgage. So the mortgage would be paid off 3 years and 2 months sooner if you use this repayment method.

In short, what this strategy does is shift your money from passbook savings only ($2,000.00 per year), to paying $1,200.00 on your mortgage, and saving $800.00 directly into your bank account each year.

To sum up the benefits of using this method, the borrower in the example above saved $46,360.13 in interest on their loan, and accumulated $21,923.85 in passbook savings ( $67.00 per month X 1% APR X 322 months ). This equals $68,283.98 in accumulated savings over 26 years and 10 months (This is the actual time it would take to pay off the original 30 year mortgage).

If the family would have put all of their money ($167.00 per month) in a passbook savings account only, they would have accumulated $54,646.35 over the same period of time.

So this family would have actually saved $13,637.63 more by using this accelerated payment method. And they would have also paid off their mortgage 3 years and 2 months earlier than normal.

This method can be used in any situation where the mortgage has an Accelerated Payment Clause built into it. It will work best if you are consistent with the amount that you pay on your mortgage every month. Any change in the amount of monthly repayment of the mortgage will affect the amount that you will actually save.

Check with your banker to find out if your mortgage allows for Accelerated Payments. Then you can use this strategy to save a lot of money on your mortgage and own your home sooner.

When word gets around about your command of mortgage facts, others who need to know about mortgage will start to actively seek you out.

Michael Hehn
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/a-guide-to-save-thousands-of-dollars-on-your-mortgage-87794.html

We are springing forward; example 5am will be 6am. It’s still going to be dark so the lights will be on because the sun does not rise in most places until 7am which will be 8am and most people are already out of their houses to work or school.
And the way the weather is this late in February we should still expect the cold in March, so we will still be heating up homes and buildings

I agree, it’s senseless.

I am planning to buy fitness product but how much can I save on each product? What will be the offers provided by 24 hour fitness coupon?

Almost all the fitness products offers 24 hour fitness coupon. We can not say that all fitness coupon offers same discounts. The offers and the bonus varies according to the cost of the fitness product. Some coupon offers more discount and some coupon offers less discount but surely you will get discount on each coupon.

I am using medifast products. My friends told me about the medifast coupon. How can I save money through that coupon?

The medifast coupon provide some special discount to the buyer and also some times gives special offers like bonus too. The medifast coupon has one promotional code which helps you to save money on each purchase of medifast product. Use your coupon regularly and make your money saving permanent.

Worried about the drop in your 401k and the uncertain economy however still considering a holiday but concerned about the cost? Well it is possible to have a holiday in the Caribbean and save money. This article will provide you some of the ways you can reduce your Caribbean vacation cost and still have a wonderful time.

Hotels
These are the times in which it pays to shop around. The economic slowdown in the United States and Europe is causing many hotels in the Caribbean to have empty rooms and so lower rates are available. By researching the various hotels and the packages they offer you can find hidden bargains.

Another way to reduce your hotel cost is to remember that hotels that are not directly on the beachfront but within walking distance of the beach usually cost less than hotels on the beach.

What type of hotel
Ask yourself the question, how much time do I really spend in the hotel room and the hotel? If your answer is that you spend a lot of your vacation time out of the hotel room, then do you really need to stay in a large hotel? On all the Caribbean islands there are small hotels that offer much lower rates than the large hotels.

Another vacation saver is to consider self-catering hotels. Many self-catering hotels provide all the conveniences of a regular hotel room with the added benefit of a decent sized kitchen or kitchenette. By being able to prepare some of your meals (at least breakfast) you can reduce your vacation food bill. When researching self-catering hotels ask for photos of the kitchen area so that you can see if it will be adequate for your needs. Also find out if there are any supermarkets within walking distance of the hotel.

If you choose a self-catering hotel, when you visit the supermarket, buy local brands rather than simply buying the brands that you use at home. You will generally find that local brands cost less.

Eating Out
One of the pleasures of a Caribbean vacation is dining, as there are numerous restaurants on each island serving all types of cuisine. One way to save money during your Caribbean holiday is to eat where the locals eat. You will invariably find that the prices at these establishments are lower as these places cater for locals who do not have the purchasing power of tourists. Part of the benefit of a vacation is to experience the culture of the island and local cuisine is a great way to experience local culture. How to know where to eat; use the time tested method: if it is lunchtime and there are many people lining up then the food must be good and the price must be reasonable.

Alcohol
Almost every hotel in the Caribbean has a bar because relaxing with a drink is part of the holiday experience. Visiting the bar everyday however can eat into a holiday budget. One way to save money and still have your alcohol is to visit the supermarket. By purchasing your alcohol at the supermarket and having some of your drinks on your hotel balcony while watching the sunset, you can save money. When buying alcohol in the Caribbean you will find that local and regional brands of beer cost significantly less than U.S. and European brands of beer, so buy local. The same is true with the cost of rum when compared to other distilled spirits such as whiskey and vodka.

Getting Around
Most people on a Caribbean vacation want to do some sightseeing and visit the places of interest on each island. Renting a car is a great way to do your sightseeing. Many of the attractions on each island can be found once you are armed with a good road map. In addition, having a car allows you to widen the circle of places where you can choose to have dinner. In deciding to rent a car however you should think of the amount of time the car is parked in the hotel parking lot while you are relaxing on the beach in front the hotel or taking an afternoon siesta. While the car is parked and you are not using the car you are still paying the rental for the car for that entire period.

One method of having the benefit of a car and still save some money is to plan your holiday in advance by researching the sights. The Internet has made researching sightseeing attractions much easier and one of the web sites where you can learn about the places to visit on different Caribbean islands is at the Island Adventures Page of the Caribbean Outdoor Life web site. Once you have completed your research you make a list, then rent a car for only 2 or 3 days and do all the sightseeing on those days. In this way you save on the car rental. On the days that you have the car you can choose to visit restaurants that are not in walking distance of your hotel.

Another potential vacation saver can be found in the area of car rental insurance. Check if your home auto insurance or credit card will provide insurance on a rental vehicle while you are on vacation in the Caribbean, thus saving you from purchasing insurance from the car rental company.

On the other days when you do not have a car you can use local transport for getting around. All hotels either have taxis at the hotel or arrangements with taxis who will quickly come to the hotel once they receive a call from the front desk. A much cheaper alternative however is to use the local bus service. The front desk staff can usually provide you with directions and advice on using the bus service.

Tours and Attractions
Every Caribbean island has retained much of its natural vegetation and so hiking to visit waterfalls and scenic points is one of the attractions of a Caribbean holiday. All islands have at least one local hiking club and/or Field Naturalist Club that will organise hikes for its members. All of these clubs will allow non-members to participate on their organised hikes. While these clubs will charge a fee for you to participate in their hike, the fee will be much less than the fee charged by a tour guide. One point to remember however is that these hikes are organised for their local members and will therefore be on a weekend.

Many of the attractions on the various islands charge a fee for entrance. There are however many other attractions that you can visit for free, particularly historic buildings especially churches, the smaller forts and government buildings. The capital of each island is one location where you are certain to find historic buildings and monuments that are free places to visit.

So if you are thinking about a vacation, consider the Caribbean, with a little planning you can have a wonderful vacation at a significantly lower cost.

brian ramsey
http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/saving-money-on-a-caribbean-holiday-712739.html

Since their introduction in the mid 1990s, CFLs (compact flourescent lamps/light bulbs) have generated lots of discussion and debate in light bulb aisles across the world. Yes there is a lot of hype behind them, but CFLs truly are an incredible technology.

Although, how can you justify spending up to five times as much for a CFL over a traditional incandescent light bulb? You can justify this with three reasons.

1. CFLs last significantly longer than incandescents. On average, a CFL will last about 10,000 hours and an incandescent will only last about 1000 hours. This reason alone is enough to validate spending five times more because it will last ten times longer
2. CFLs save money. By replacing just one incandescent with a CFL you will be saving an average of $22 per year considering direct energy saving, reduced HVAC cost, and reduced labor to change lamps. Multiply that by about 30 light fixtures in your home and CFLs will save the average household $3300 dollars over the five year life of the bulbs!
3. CFLs save the environment. If you are trying to do your part in cleaning up our environment, this may be the most important reason of all. Compared to an incandescent bulb, a CFL will save 2000 times its own weight in greenhouse gases over its lifetime. Just imagine the enironmental effects if everyone in the world replaced their bulbs.

CFLs last longer, save money, and save the environment. Even if you are not interested in saving our planet, you have two reasons to make the switch. Why are you not replacing your lightbulbs right now?

Nick Tart
http://www.articlesbase.com/diy-articles/how-much-do-cfls-really-save-728438.html

I know your computer saves the web pages visit, (your history) when you surf the internet but does it also save the time when you were looking at thoses pages?

I dont think it saves the exact time,
but I do know that it saves what day
you went on what page.

Many people don’t even realize that they are paying too much for health insurance in Texas. If you are one of these people you might want to consider searching online for some different health insurance prices to see if you could be saving money.

There are several things you can do to save money on your health insurance in Texas:

Scale back your insurance and keep only what you need. Many people pay too much for health insurance in Texas because they are paying for options they don’t even need. Some people that pay for health insurance rarely go to the doctor, so opting for a less expensive plan with a higher co-pay might make a lot more sense for them.

In order to save time when searching for health insurance in Texas make your search terms as specific as possible like adding the city you live in or at least adding “Texas” to the term “health insurance”. This will help you bring up only the most relevant search results and should save you a lot of time sifting through information that doesn’t apply to you.

Opting for a good HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) plan is a great way to save money. When it comes to health insurance in Texas, HMO’s are generally much more affordable than most other types of health insurance. HMO’s save money by contracting only with doctors and hospitals that agree to charge the fees the HMO has deemed fair and reasonable. Choosing this type of health insurance limits your choices of doctors and hospitals, but for most people the savings is worthwhile.

Age plays a factor in the cost of health insurance plans in Texas, but don’t let that stop you from looking for a better rate. Shopping around is still the best way to compare the features and benefits of each plan and weigh them out with the costs in order to make the choice that is right for you. Whether you are 20, 40, 60 or older, have children or don’t, you have the right to get the best health care you can at a price you can afford and you shouldn’t give up until you get exactly what you need.

Finding the right health insurance in Texas at the right price means making choices. Choices about the type of plan you need, choices about how much coverage you require, what co-pays you are willing to pay and how much your deductible should be. Once you get all the pieces to the puzzle in the right places you should have a health insurance plan that you can afford and live with.

Filling out health insurance applications online is the most efficient way to get the health insurance in Texas that you need. You can take all the time you want without an insurance agent breathing down your neck and trying to talk you into spending more money than you can afford for options you don’t need or want. It is easy to find the information, compare it and then sign up with health insurance plan of your choice all right on the internet.

Jordan FeRoss
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/saving-major-money-on-your-health-insurance-698433.html